la femmes de pablo picasso - jacqueline roque

jacqueline with flowers, 1954

jacqueline de profil droit III, 1958

jacqueline self portrait

picasso & roque in his studio

jacqueline roque, 1954

jacqueline & picasso

jacqueline with hands crossed, 1954

jacqueline & picasso at home

portrait de jacqueline de profil III, 1959

picasso & jacqueline

picasso was 72 went he met jacqueline rogue who was 27 at the time. she worked as a saleswoman at madoura pottery in vallauris where picasso's ceramic works were created. she would become his second wife after they married in secret in 1961.
her image began to appear in picasso's paintings in may of 1954. he would create more than 400 portraits of her in the next 20 years. these portraits are characterized by an exaggerated neck and feline face, distortions of roque's features.  she was a mysterious figure and reclusive figure during her time with picasso - she said of him "you don't cast a shadow over the sun."
roque had been married earlier to an engineer, andré hutin whom she had a daughter her daughter cathy with. when she met picasso in 1953 she was wary of committing herself. "i knew about his reputation as far as women went. pablo was old enough to be my grandfather," she confided. "i'd just had a painful divorce, and i had cathy." picasso brought her a red rose every day, wrote poems for her & told her he had waited until his old age to find out what love really was. after six months she finally gave in & they became lovers. picasso found in her a mistress, mother, sister, accomplice & muse.
jacqueline was no pushover, though, & laid down the law quite early on. she warned him: "you have to know that if one day there is another muse, i'll congratulate her, i'll send her flowers. but i'll be out the door." she was the only love he tolerated in his studio when he was painting & there are many photos of the two of them together there. he would scribble his love for her on the back of canvases; messages such as "for jacqueline's saint valentine's day" or "for jacqueline, for her day, her husband." he could be cruel to her as well - she sometimes called him "the abominable snowman".
he warned her that there would be conflicts ahead given his wealth: "if one day i fall ill, the others won't let you care for me." nevertheless she was not prepared for the infighting that would come. his children, claude & paloma, turned against her, accusing her of holding their father hostage.  three of his children, including paulo, his son by olga, sued him in an attempt to ensure they inherited his fortune. under the law at the time, they stood to inherit nothing, as they were illegitimate.  he later remarked: "if i'd known how things would turn out with my children, i'd have done better to piss against a street light."
during the last two years of picasso's life, she was at his beside day & night. she began to drink enormously being affected by the sight of her husband dying, her difficult relations with her daughter, cathy, & the fact that her former father in law was dying of cancer. she felt alone & became depressed.
in april 1973, on the eve of his death picasso said to jacqueline: "have i got enough canvases & paintbrushes? tomorrow i'm going to start painting." the following day as the doctor gave him an injection to help him breathe, picasso asked him if he was married. the doctor replied he wasn't. "you've made a mistake; it's useful. you should" he said. he then turned to jacqueline, who was holding his hand, and whispered: "my wife, it's marvellous." they were his last words. for six days & nights she watched over the coffin & buried him in front of the grand staircase at the castle entrance.
after his death she would fight with his children over the distribution of his esate. she would help establish the musée picasso in madrid. she killed herself with a gun 13 years after the death of picasso in mougins.